Sunday, February 18, 2007

More fun playing with bikes

On Saturday I sawed through the stem to get the rusted fork out. Hacksaws are fun especially when you don't know what you’re sawing into. I striped the bike back to the frame and sprayed inside with WD-40. I also cleaned up the wheels with WD-40, metal polish and some fine steel wool.

On Sunday I headed over the Bicycle Recycle, where Karen was able to give me all the bits and pieces I needed – a Malvern star fork, stem, axles and a bottom bracket. She also gave me a new frame for a fixie. Fixing up bike is a lot of fun when you can get the right parts. It helps if you can make contact with the right people. A lot of bike enthusiasts are only too happy to help share their knowledge. On Sunday afternoon I got back to putting it all together. I picked up some industrial grease for the bottom bracket. It was a little bit like playing that boardgame 'Operation' as you push the ball bearings around the cup with a pen and aim to keep them all in place. The grease makes it easy and I got it to work on the second attempt. This time when I put the chainring and crankarms back on there was no wobble. I then cleaned and regreased the ball bearings in the fork and headset and put it all back together with the new fork. The bike is basically ready to go, I just need to put the chain back on and do a few tightening adjustments. Will head over to the Nunnery this afternoon to finish it off.